The State We’re In: Messing with success in the Meadowlands

The transformation of the Hackensack Meadowlands over the past 45 years – from a polluted dumping ground and butt of countless jokes to a birdwatcher’s paradise, eco-tourism destination and top-flight sports complex – is a Jersey miracle.

It didn’t happen by chance. It was planned. A regional planning commission was established in 1969 to oversee land use in the 30-square-mile Meadowlands area of Hudson and Bergen counties.